Pat Robertson: Government’s War on Drugs Has Failed

Prominent evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson says that the government’s war on drugs has failed and marijuana should be legalized and regulated, reports the Washington Post.

“I’m not a crusader,” Robertson was quoted in a New York Times story as saying. “I’ve never used marijuana and I don’t intend to, but it’s just one of those things that I think: this war on drugs just hasn’t succeeded.”

“I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat alcohol,” Robertson said. “If people can go into a liquor store and buy a bottle of alcohol and drink it at home legally, then why do we say that the use of this other substance is somehow criminal?”

Robertson went on to say that he “absolutely” backs ballot measures in both Colorado and Washington state that would allow for legal marijuana sales and possession.

Although he supports the ballot measures, Robertson qualified that he was “not encouraging people to use narcotics in any way, shape, or form.”